Nick Mariano's 2019 Draft Sleepers List (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. It's everyone's favorite pre-draft word to throw around and likely threatens to take the top spot on some Google Analytics the closer we get to that premier fantasy baseball draft season. Yup, we're talking about sleepers. But let's just get this out of the way: […]

Later-Round Shortstops - Targets and Avoids

Once you reach the later rounds of drafts, you start thinking about upside fliers that can provide a great return on value. These are the rounds to take risks on more unknown commodities like prospects, forgotten-about veterans, players returning from injuries or players that have previously showed promise but haven't put it all together yet. […]

ADP Cost Analysis - Robbie Ray vs Andrew Heaney

When drafting a pitcher, the vast majority of owners put an emphasis on upside, selecting a player based on his best-case scenario. That’s what makes Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray so intriguing, and why he has a 120 ADP. After lighting up the league in 2017, people are still holding out hope that the best is yet […]

Wilmer Flores Gets Off To Nice Start In Desert

Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Wilmer Flores finished off a perfect day at the plate in Cactus League spring action against the Cleveland Indians, going 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Flores has plenty of competition at second base, even if Ketel Marte moves to center field for a majority of his […]

Robbie Ray So-So In His Initial Spring Outing

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Robbie Ray allowed just one hit with two walks and two strikeouts over 1 1/3 innings in his Cactus League spring debut against the Cleveland Indians on Sunday. Ray saw a decline in velocity and effectiveness last season, and he struggled to go very deep into games. He missed a good […]

Setup Men You Need to Know - 2019 Bullpen Outlooks

Now that the closers in each division have been covered, it's time to talk about those often-forgotten-but-possibly-even-more-important relievers: the setup men. A lot of times, closers can be pigeonholed into the ninth inning, especially by "old-school" or "traditional" managers, leaving the actual most critical late-game situations to another relief pitcher. In steps the setup man. […]

NFBC Draft and Hold Strategy - Pitching Category Boosters (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. There is no such thing as a can't-miss pitching prospect. Pitchers never stay healthy. Relievers are volatile. All of these are sayings that diehard fantasy baseball players are familiar with, and to some extent, live by during the fantasy season. Developing a pitching strategy […]

RotoBaller's Industry Experts Mock Draft - The King's Perspective

At RotoBaller, we recently assembled a group of fantasy baseball experts to take part in the RotoBaller Friends and Family Expert Mock Draft. Our participants came from all over the industry, representing a host of various sites such as: CBS Sports (Heath Cummings) The Athletic (Nando Di Fino) Fantasy Alarm (Howard Bender) Fangraphs (Alex Chamberlain) […]

Steven Souza Jr. (OF, ARI) - Fantasy Baseball Draft Sleepers

BALLER MOVE: Draft target ~pick 300 CURRENT ADP: ~345 overall ANALYSIS: Steven Souza Jr. is 29 years old but it feels like he has been around for years. In fact, he first debuted in the Washington Nationals minor league system all the way back in 2007. After coming off his 30 home run season for the […]

Top 10 Catcher Prospects - 2019 Redraft Rankings

Catching as a position has gotten the brunt of fantasy angst over the past few seasons, with wRC+ rates well below league average. And yet, this is precisely the reason that owners should be looking to add the young talent that will be taking these spots in the Majors sooner rather than later. Owning talent […]

NFBC Draft and Hold Strategy - Late-Round Offensive Category Targets (Premium Content)

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. With the growing interest in draft-and-hold formats, new draft strategy prep is critical for full season runs at the title. For those who are new to the format, typically teams draft 27 starters in a live draft, with 27 players joining the team in […]

Merrill Kelly, Several Others Vying For Jobs

The Arizona Diamondbacks signed pitcher Merrill Kelly to a free-agent deal with an invitation to spring training, while also recently adding outfielder Rob Refsnyder, shortstop Kelby Tomlinson and pitchers Michael Kohn and Lucas Luetge on minor-league deals. Kelly is the biggest signing, and he has the chance to make the greatest fantasy impact. He enjoyed […]

Taijuan Walker Placed On The 60-Day Injured List

The Arizona Diamondbacks placed starting pitcher Taijuan Walker (elbow) on the 60-day injured list to make room on the roster for newly signed catcher Caleb Joseph on the 40-man roster. Walker is making his way back from Tommy John surgery last April 25, and it's likely he might not return until sometime around the All-Star […]

Carson Kelly, Caleb Joseph To Lock Horns In Camp Battle

Arizona Diamondbacks executive vice president and general manager Mike Hazen said the team is expected to keep three backstops. Catchers Alex Avila and John Ryan Murphy are out of options, so it's likely they hold down two of the spots, with Carson Kelly and Caleb Joseph battling for the third job. Joseph has an option […]

Ketel Marte Confident In Transition To Center Field

Arizona Diamondbacks infielder/outfielder Ketel Marte is confident he'll be able to switch from middle infielder to center field, where he is expected to see a lot of time this season. He has primarily played shortstop during his career, but he shifted to second base last year due to the emergence of SS Nick Ahmed. With […]

Archie Bradley's Finger Issues Behind Him

Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher Archie Bradley said the cracked-fingernail issue that he dealt with last year isn't an issue any longer. "This nail is solid. I’m throwing some hammers this year. I’m going to have one of the best curveballs in the big leagues this year. It’s nasty," Bradley said. It's unclear if the D-Backs […]

Mid-Round Outfielders - Fantasy Baseball Outlooks

Here at RotoBaller, we've been producing fantasy baseball analysis all offseason. As part of that, our awesome MLB team has written up detailed 2019 fantasy baseball outlooks for 400+ players. These player outlooks include RotoBaller's analysis on how we expect player to perform in 2019, where to target them in 2019 drafts, and supporting stats […]

Three Up, Three Down for Prospects - Catcher

While this is not a hot take, the catcher position has been dreadful for fantasy owners over the past few seasons. And yet, this does not mean that catching prospects are also on the decline. For example, this writer has four catchers in the top-60 dynasty prospect rankings, and two close to jumping into that […]

Ricky Nolasco Looks To Resurrect Career In Arizona

The Arizona Diamondbacks signed starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training on Friday. The team also added veteran relief pitcher Mark Rzepczynski on a similar deal. Nolasco was released at the end of spring training in 2018 after a failed bid to make the roster of the Kansas […]

2019 Bullpen Outlooks - American League Central

Moving right along with our pre-season coverage of the bullpens around the league, let's give the American League Central a look. Most "baseball people" are predicting the AL Central to be one of the worst divisions in the league in 2019, but that doesn't mean there won't be plenty of fantasy value coming out of […]

Royals Agree With Brad Boxberger

The Kansas City Royals agreed to an undisclosed one-year deal with free-agent relief pitcher Brad Boxberger on Wednesday, according to a source. Boxberger was an All-Star with the Rays in 2015 when he notched a career-high 41 saves, and he had a 4.39 ERA with 32 saves for the Diamondbacks last season while striking out […]

Starting Pitcher - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

Fantasy experts are placing a bigger emphasis on drafting elite starters early this year. It is apparent this strategy is making its way across the fantasy community, as the high-end starters are being valued higher than before. In points leagues, this is a wise methodology, as an ace can serve as the backbone of a […]

Relief Pitcher - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

It’s never too early to start looking toward the fantasy baseball season, and I’m here to continue RotoBaller’s position-by-position rankings analysis series for points league and head-to-head (H2H) formats with the ever-volatile relief pitcher position. The "closer carousel" seems to spin faster and faster every year, and there are very few names in the 'set […]

Top 130 Prospect Rankings for 2019 Fantasy Baseball Redraft Leagues

Prospects. For fantasy baseball enthusiasts, we are always looking to know about the next wave of prospects, rookies and call-ups. More than most other sports, baseball gives us a fresh influx of rookie talent every single year. Impact prospects are called-up both before and during the MLB season. Knowing about the right prospect, and drafting/adding him […]

Shortstop - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

It’s never too early to start looking toward the fantasy baseball season, so I’m here to carry on RotoBaller’s position-by-position rankings analysis series for points league and head-to-head (H2H) formats with the stars of the infield, the shortstops. The position is star-studded, and in roto leagues, I think I'd be comfortable with any of the […]

Outfield - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

It’s never too early to start looking toward the fantasy baseball season, so I’m here to continue RotoBaller’s position-by-position rankings analysis series for points league and head-to-head (H2H) formats with the incredibly deep outfield position. There is a seemingly neverending stream of useful bats, but there are still clear chokepoints where the risk portfolio thickens. […]

Greg Holland Agrees With Diamondbacks

The Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with free-agent relief pitcher Greg Holland on Wednesday. The deal also includes performance-based incentives, probably for games finished. While Archie Bradley and Yoshihisa Hirano are capable of closing out games, Holland has more experience and might be the favorite now for ninth-inning duties in the […]

Third Base - Early Points League Rankings and Tiers

The hot corner is stacked like never before, especially with the anticipated arrival of mega-prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Waiting on a third baseman won't hurt given the relative depth of the position. With the multi-position eligibility of several players on this list, one could easily grab several of these names within the first few rounds […]

Torey Lovullo Receives Extension

The Arizona Diamondbacks signed manager Torey Lovullo to an undisclosed extension on Tuesday. Lovullo's current deal was set to expire after the 2019 season. He was named the 2017 National League manager of the year after he led the team to a 93-69 record and playoff berth, but the D-Backs fell to 82-80 in 2018 […]

ADP Champ or Chump - Eduardo Escobar and Paul DeJong

In the past two years, baseball has seen an explosion in the number of shortstops with legitimate home run power. Everyone from Francisco Lindor to Tim Anderson seems capable of belting 20 dingers on an annual basis. Most of those players are being drafted in the first 10 rounds or so, but both of our […]